What is the paper trying to accomplish here? At this time in his life, it should be about Colin Kaepernick -- a young man on the road to NFL success and fame. Now his birth mother gets a top-of-the-fold headline regarding her regrets and her needs?

I worked in the field of adoption for many years. "Good" birth mothers put their children's needs first, not their own self-serving, "I'd-be-interested-in-getting-a-chance-to-see-him" whine. I'm disappointed the paper would give this woman so much time and attention.

I'm sorry, Colin, you shouldn't need to deal with this now, especially in public. Don't let her compromise who you are and your sense of self.

Susan Murphy

Oakland

Outraged by outburst in Hungarian chamber

As Hungarian-Americans and daughters of Hungarian Holocaust survivors, we are saddened and outraged to hear the recent outburst by a member of the Hungarian Parliament asking for an accounting of all Jews in government for security reasons.

We are stunned that this chilling echo of our painful past, which saw the destruction of nearly 600,000 Hungarian Jews by the Nazis with the complicity of the Hungarian Arrow Cross, could take place today in the context of a democratic session.

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That there was not a single immediate response of rebuke by any other Parliament members is beyond belief. Certainly disappointing was that it took 16 hours for the Hungarian government to issue a response of regret to hearing the incendiary remarks of the Jobbik party representative who even in his backtrack said that only those members with dual Hungarian-Israeli passports were of concern to him regarding security risk in light of the Middle East situation.

We strongly urge the passing of legislation to forbid such incendiary, inappropriate remarks in our homeland that needs to move beyond its age-old anti-Semitic history. We also urge Hungarians of all backgrounds to join together for peaceful coexistence.

Marta Fuchs

Albany Shara Gemes Berkeley

If costs get too high, shippers will leave

Union leaders could price members out of their jobs. The recent longshoremen's union strike at San Diego cost $1 billion a day.

At some point, the shippers will look for a cheaper alternative: through Mexico. Consider that the distance from San Diego to Kansas City is 1,695 miles, while the distance from Mazatlan on the west coast of Mexico, through Laredo, Texas, to Kansas City is less than 1,500 miles.

Not only are the port facilities newer, but the railroad is upgraded and the highway transportation system in Mexico is a toll-road built for long-haul trucking. And Interstate-35 north of Laredo connects with I-10 west to El Paso or east to New Orleans, I-40 west to Albuquerque or east to Memphis, I-70 west to Denver or east to St. Louis, and I-80 west to Sacramento or east to Chicago, as it connects north with Minneapolis.

This route has no hassle with union pensions and health benefits or California taxes and traffic.

I am just an informed observer looking at a map, but, you can bet that corporate planners are aware of these facts.

Michael McCarthy

Hayward

His shoe collection is wasteful extravagance

Why is an article such as "Sole Man" newsworthy, especially first-page newsworthy?

The fact that a wealthy, spoiled athlete owns more than 1,500 pairs of high-priced sneakers should not even be a story worth printing in our local paper.

When I see how people struggle just to get by, including members of my own family, this kind of extravagance sickens me.